Fraser Charles Digby (born 23 January 1967) is an English football coach and former player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He spent much of his career with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, for whom he played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. In 2008, he found new fame through repeated references to "Fraser Digby's washbag" on

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

's ''6–0–6'' programme on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Playing career

Digby was a Manchester United apprentice, making his League debut whilst on loan at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in 1985, joining

on a free transfer in December 1986 after two loan spells. Digby, who represented England schools, youth and under-21s, did not leave Swindon until 1998. He played in the 1993 play-off final against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, a match Swindon won, thereby securing a place in the

, and represented the club during their season at the top level of English football. In late 1992, he returned to Manchester United on loan as cover for

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and was selected as a substitute on several occasions but never came onto the pitch. In August 1998, Digby signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, before moving on to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in 2001. He was released by QPR due to money shortages after which he played a handful of games for

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

Purfleet. He joined Kidderminster Harriers in 2003 on a game-by-game basis (non-contractual), while at the same time rejoining former club Swindon and taking on the two roles of commercial manager and goalkeeping coach under

Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...

. Digby also played one game for Cirencester Town in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 2004, signed on an emergency deal as Cirencester had a 'keeper shortage, it was then known Fraser was good friends with Brian Hughes, the Cirencester manager. The game was against Bognor Regis Town and finished 4–3 to Bognor, with Cirencester coming back from 3–0 down to 3–3 to make a thrilling finish. Digby played for a Manchester United legends team touring Ireland; his last appearance was in a friendly match against Moyola Park in July 2008. When Digby retired from professional football, he spoke out against the methods for earning coaching badges for goalkeepers:

The problem is that to obtain full goalkeeping coaching qualifications, you have to go through all the stuff for outfield players and I don't really want to do that.

Danny Baker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Digby has recently been the subject of many adaptations of popular songs, with lyrics written after a story from an anonymous correspondent to

's radio show. It emerged that during a tour of Swindon Town's football ground, someone had come across Digby's washbag in the changing room and taken a

tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...

comb as a memento, thus coining the phrase 'Fraser Digby's Washbag'. Baker saw that there was "music" in these words and latched onto it. The piece, entitled "Fraser Digby's Washbag", became a regular feature of Baker's Tuesday night slot on BBC Radio 5 Live's ''6–0–6'' programme for 29 weeks to the final episode on 26 May 2009, during which listeners sent in their own lyrics based on the story, which Baker would sing over karaoke versions of popular songs. In December 2008, Digby surprised Baker live on air, by appearing at the BBC studios to join the show and sang a "Fraser Digby's Washbag" song himself.https://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/606withdannyb/video.shtml, BBC Radio 5 live – 606 with Danny Baker: Videos

Honours

;Swindon Town *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

: 1995–96 *

Football League Third Division play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual En ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

* Football League Second Division play-offs:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

* Football League First Division play-offs:

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Fraser 1967 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Association football goalkeepers England under-21 international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players Premier League players Thurrock F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff